It would be 'extremely irresponsible' not to support the constitutional amendment

The chairman of the legislation committee in Hungary's Parliament has said it would be “extremely irresponsible” for the main political parties not to support the proposed constitutional amendment on EU migrant quotas.

Gergely Gulyás has said that the Jobbik and LMP parties agree with the content and text of the proposal, and there is a near general consensus between the main parties on the need for the amendment, so it would be irresponsible of them not to support it.

Gulyás noted that amending the Basic Law will require support from two-thirds of MPs, which translates into 133 votes. The governing parties have 131 deputies, therefore the votes of two opposition MPs will also be needed. “We trust that the opposition parties will also put the country’s interests first,” he said.

The Jobbik party has said it would only support the constitutional amendment if it goes against all forms of migration, which includes the residency bond scheme. The green LMP party said that it would abstain from the vote.

Gulyás said the legislation committee will meet on Thursday of this week to adopt the proposed amendment. The plenary vote is scheduled for November 8.